So, the other night, I caramelized some onions for some burgers. In my time-honored tradition of always making too much… I had some leftover. I had an idea for English muffins for breakfast topped with the onions & some Swiss cheese, so I tried it, out.
The were absolutely delicious. Just posting this so I can pin it & refer back to it.
When caramelizing the yellow onions in a ridiculous amount of butter, I added some salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, ground mustard, & black pepper. I have no idea if this is “correct” but it was delicious. I start them out on medium until they’re translucent, then cook on medium-low for a ridiculously long time.
Fast forward to the next morning, I split some L’Oven Fresh English Muffins, spread butter on them, spread some of the leftover caramelized onions on them, and topped with half a slice of Swiss cheese… and baked in a pre-heated 350° F oven for about 13 minutes. (The onions were cold from the ‘fridge, & I wanted to be sure they were heated up before everything was too toasted.)
It was a great breakfast… but I did miss a beef broth or au jus kind of flavor. Would have been like French Onion English Muffins then. Maybe next time?
What would you call this? Have you done something similar? Would you do it different? Ever try the oven method to caramelize onions, or something other than slow & low on the stovetop? Let me know in the comments!
I have had it in my head for a while now that I wanted some of the homestyle creamy baked mac n’ cheese. Inspiration hit with the snow coming down today, wanting some comfort food, so I just did it. I had been wondering if you could use a box of Kraft as the start to “good” mac & cheese, too. I had some stuff in the ‘fridge & pantry to make it happen. Posting it here to remember what I did.
I didn’t really measure, but this is close…
Ingredients:
2 boxes Kraft mac & cheese (noodles & powder packets)
½ cup butter & ¼ cup butter (for later)
½ cup flour
1 block sharp cheddar cheese (16 oz.?), grated
4 cubed chunks (approx. 1″ cubes) of Velveeta (I used the Aldi version)
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
2½ cups 2% milk
½ cup half & half
¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
¾ plain breadcrumbs
yellow mustard (a dash)
ground mustard (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
white pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
garlic powder (to taste)
table blend salt-free seasoning (to taste)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Boil the pasta in some water with bit of salt, for about 5 minutes… the time on the box overcooks them.
Melt ½ cup butter in a cause pan on medium, stir in the flour (season it here), cook 2 or 3 min. until golden.
Slowly stir in milk & half & half. (Season it here too.)
Slowly stir in the grated sharp cheddar & chunks of Velveeta. I put the squirt of mustard in here. (Season it here too.)
Slowly stir in one of the cheese powder packets from the Kraft box. (Season it here too.)
Drain the pasta when it’s done while you’re doing all that, then put it in an 8″x8″ glass baking dish.
Stir in your cheese sauce. (If I understand correctly, that was a roux, then a béchamel, then a mornay… right?) Season it again if you nasty, and you’re reading this, so I know you are.
Melt the ¼ cup of butter in a small bowl with a handle. (Season it here too.)
Stir the breadcrumbs, the other Kraft cheese packet, & the table blend seasoning into the butter bowl.
Sprinkle the shredded colby jack on top of the cheese n’ macaroni.
Spread the buttery cheesy breadcrumbs on that.
Pop it in the oven for like 18 minutes.
Notes:
I popped it in for 20 minutes, and while the breadcrumbs got a little overdone, they weren’t quite burnt. I may cover it in foil for a bit next time, or put the breadcrumbs on after a bit of cooking?
I’ll use a bullion cube in with the macaroni next time. I do that with pasta a lot but was worried the Kraft cheese packets may be salty, they weren’t as bas as I expected.
I needed some grated parmesan shake cheese, but didn’t use any because I couldn’t find it. Ha ha.
What about crushed Cheeze-Its instead of breadcrumbs? What about bacon pieces in there?
Have you done this? Obviously I could just use regular pasta & forgo the Kraft powdered cheese sauce concoction. Got any tips or tricks? If you say nutmeg or cinnamon you can see yourself all the way out.
I did it. No one died. Everyone seemed to like it. I’ll put my recipe down here first & the shenanigans after that… because Threads gave me some shenanigans. Trigger warning for Nonnas worldwide:I put brown sugar in jarred sauce. Proceed with caution.
Preheat oven to 375° (Next time I may do 350° for a longer time, but we were in a but of a hurry.)
Brown the beef in a pan on the stove with some of all your spices to taste. (I could/should have included onion here.)
Mix the ricotta, one bag of the shredded cheese, the grated parmesan, a bit of the shredded parmesan, the eggs, fresh parsley, & shredded zucchini in a large bowl, again with all the spices including the garlic.
This filled two 9×13″ glass baking dishes for me. I think I layered them both a bit different. Follow your heart. Put sauce on the bottom, sprinkle in some brown sugar, the dry lasagna noodles, the ricotta mixture, the ground beef, some more shredded cheese, more sauce, more noodles, and just keep going. I did put a very little bit of water in the jars of sauce to swirl around & empty more.. and put that into the dishes too. Sprinkled cheese and made sure there was lots of sauce on top of each.
Cover them tightly with foil & put them in the oven for 50 minutes.
Take out, sprinkle on some more of the shredded parmesan, cook for another 10 minutes.
Pull out, rest for a bit, then serve.
Notes:
Like I said, lower & slower next time. Maybe 350° for an hour then uncover & go for another 15 minutes?
Carrots may be good in with the ground beef… and/or mushrooms?
Maybe spinach in the cheese mixture or as another layer. Let’s get some fiber up in here.
I don’t generally like sausage, but if you do it’d be good here for sure.
What would you do?
🍝
Readers, let me tell you… people have feelings about calling that strip of pasta a “lasagna noodle.” There is also the fact that “American” lasagna has ricotta, but traditional does not. I was even told that because I added shredded zucchini it is no longer lasagna. I have made it replacing the pasta with long thinly-sliced zucchini planks and still called it lasagna.
People have lost their damn minds. No one knows that food and language evolve over time and across regions and even households?
I did plug my ingredients list into Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, & Copilot to see what they would churn back out, but honestly I didn’t follow through with any of their advice.
I look forward to your thoughts about lasagna, your tips, tricks & recipes, and the nuance of semantics involving pasta naming conventions in the comments. How do you layer yours? I feel like I need a way deeper pan. Do you go “traditional” and eschew ricotta? Do you call lasagna noodles lasagna noodles or are you pretentious?
If you want beef, then bring the ruckus! My mushroom meatloaf ain’t nothin’ to ████ with.
With the likely chance of repeating myself, I like to make meatloaf different all the time. I make “normal” ones often, and made a crazy breakfast one one time. I think I have even crushed up Cheese⟐Its or Doritos in lieu of breadcrumbs. I blame Chopped. I forgot that I made one VERY similar to this not too long ago. The blog post was kind of sus as I was using LLM as I cooked to keep track of what I was did in hopes of having a coherent recipe for a post, & had 4 of them pop out interpretations of my recipe. I put the examples there. That may be overwhelming. I’ll do all the writing for this one. I sort of half-plan and wing it with meatloaf. This time I wanted to do some mashed potatoes & acorn squash with it too… so I did.
Mushroom Meatloaf Mayhem
This was an absurd amount of meatloaf, but I like leftovers and I’ll probably freeze some for later too. This is what I bought or had on hand this time. Most of my ingredients nowadays come from Aldi, & we do get some stuff at Giant Total Eagle.
I used a lot of processed ingredients, so I didn’t add any salt… other than what was in the season salt. I forget if we have McCormick or the Aldi brand. Of course you could use fresh mushrooms like I did last time… but this is what struck me to use this time. Also, you can use any kind of cheese or meat you want. If you don’t like, mushrooms, or onions… I will say “Bean Soup” to you and you can find other meatloaf recipes where they’re not the focus. If you don’t like meat… I would be interested to hear your suggestions for substitutions here.
You know… if I put shredded green beans in this, and maybe bacon pieces… it would be green bean casserole meatloaf. 🤯
Here are all the parts to the meal, and what I did to bring it all together at the same time…
The Mushroom Mayhem Meatloaf
Ingredients:
½ stick unsalted butter (OK, maybe ¾)
A splash of EVOO.
A splash of milk.
½ Spanish Onion
1 cup French-fried onions.
2 4-oz. cans of mushrooms
2 10.5-oz. cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded Havarti cheese.
2 tsp. jarred minced garlic (oh I know some of you hate it)
4 lbs. ground beef (As it worked out I had exactly 4 lbs., 2.54 of 80/20 & 1.46 of 93/7.)
A1 (to taste)
Garlic Powder (to taste)
Onion Powder (to taste)
Seasoned Salt (like Morton’s Season All, Lawry’s, or Stonemill to taste)
Mrs. Dash’s Table Blend (to taste)
Black Pepper (to taste)
Ground Mustard (to taste)
Paprika (to taste)
4 slices of cheap spongy white bread
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375°.
Drain & dice one can of mushrooms, dice the onion, and crunch up some of those french-fried onions to throw in there too.
Hit the onion with garlic powder & onion powder.
Melt some butter with a splash of EVOO on medium-high heat in a frying pan, then add the mushrooms & onions, sauté on medium-low for a while until the mushrooms are translucent & almost starting to caramelize. Toss in some of that minced garlic once it gets going. Set aside.
Mix 1 can of the cream of mushroom soup, the breadcrumbs, about a ½ cup of the French fried onions, & 2 splashes of A1 in a bowl. (Would this count as a panade?)
Whisk the eggs, the splash of milk, & all your spices in the bowl. Or use a fork. Be whimsical. Improvise.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the ground beef, about ¾ of the sauteed mushrooms & onions, the sort-of panade, the egg mixture, about 1 cup of shredded Havarti, & another tsp. of that minced garlic. Mix it all up. (I started with a spoon spatula, then just used my hands.)
Form the meatloaf into two loaves placed on top of the slices of white bread on a sheet pan. (You had that ready right? I mean, you read this all through before you started and knew you needed to have that ready before you got your hands all raw-meatloafy, right?)
Sprinkle Seasoned Salt & whatever other spices you want on the top.
Cover with foil, & put in the oven for about a ½ hour-ish? I cooked to temperature, not time. (The USDA says ground beef should hit 160° to prevent all kinds of potentially horrible things.)
Mix together another can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, some more shredded Havarti, some French-fried onions, a small can of mushrooms, about half of what you have left of the sauteed onion/mushroom mix, & some A1 & spices.
Open the oven, take the foil off, insert your thermometer probes, slather on the mixture, and slide it back in. Cook for about an additional hour. Maybe? (This is where I slid it to the side & popped in my golden acorn squash.)
Take it out when it hits the 160°, let it rest for a bit, and have at it!
Notes:
I add whatever spices at each step as I go.
Of course, use fresh mushrooms or different onions, or whatever speaks to you.
Monitor your meatloaf, if cooling alone maybe do an hour covered, then uncover a bit, put in the probes, & slather the stuff on top later. I didn’t want to keep opening the oven.
I rarely measure when making stuff like this… these are suggestions at best.
I was originally going to make one long-ass loaf, but I decided on 2 smaller ones at the last minute. I should have put them side by side, not end to end.
Use a loaf pan or two if that’s your thing, or a glass baking dish, or whatever works for you. I like the freeform loaf on bread, it works for me. Just maybe don’t do feetloaf or faceloaf. Really, don’t do this.
I start with an empty dishwasher and just rinse & pop everything in there as I use it because I have a small kitchen.
Your oven is already at 375° with the meatloaf above, right?
Melt the butter, spices, & sugar in a microwave safe bowl.
Cut the acorn squash in half with a sharp serrated knife from the stem to the tip on both sides, then pop it open.
Scoop out the seeds & strings with a spoon.
Score the insides with a cross-hatch pattern or whatever floats your boat.
Put the 4 halves open side up in a glass baking dish in about ¼ of water.
Try to evenly distribute the sugary melted butter in the centers, being sure to drizzle some on the top too. I used a small gravy ladle.
Let it ride in the oven for about an hour or so, maybe an hour and 15 minutes. You want it to just slightly start to burn on the edges.
Notes:
If I was not sharing the oven with meatloaf, I probably would have put these in at 400° or 425°. I am here to tell you that recipes are merely suggestions and you are free to adapt on the fly and use your own free will.
Lots of recipes have you start acorn squash face down, then turn them over, do the hokey pokey & all that. I am here to tell you that you absolutely do not need to do all that. Save your time & energy for other meal prep or solving one of my mazes.
Use whatever spices or sweetener you like. I find maple syrup overpowering sometimes, but it is popular here. I actually in hindsight should have tried hot honey on one. It seems to be all the rage. Some cayenne would really work well here.
Instead of a cross-hatch pattern, you could make a face, carve a list of your enemies, or this.
Squashes sounds weird. Can squash itself be plural?
Nashed Tapaters N’ Gravy
This may be controversial. I like boxed instant mashed potatoes. They’re quick. I can control the consistency easily. They are a blank canvas upon which you can paint your flavorful dreams. On holidays? I am doing real potatoes. Typical dinner? Flakes are fine.
Mashed Potato Ingredients:
Boxed Mashed Potato Flakes
Milk
Butter
Beef Bouillon Cube
Shredded Havarti
Black Pepper (to taste)
White Pepper (to taste)
Mrs. Dash’s Table Blend (to taste)
Garlic Powder (to taste)
Onion Powder (to taste)
Mashed Potato “Recipe”:
Make the potatoes according to the directions on the box. Their suggested serving sizes are a lie. Go big, or go home.
I pop a beef bouillon cube or two in the water instead of the salt. It ties it in to the meatloaf nicely and adds salt & flavor.
Stir in some shredded Havarti cheese at the end. Measure with your heart. Or your appendix. Whatever organ is speaking, just listen.
Add some more butter.
Gravy Ingredients:
1 brown gravy packet
1 mushroom gravy packet
1 4-oz. can of mushrooms
1 10.5-oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
Some of those sauteed mushrooms & onions from waaay back up top
Black Pepper (to taste)
White Pepper (to taste)
Mrs. Dash’s Table Blend (to taste)
Garlic Powder (to taste)
Onion Powder (to taste)
Gravy “Recipe”:
Mix the gravy packets both at once according to the directions on the pack… adding in your preferred spices.
Once it is fully simmered & not clunky… pop the burner back up to medium and add in the soup, the canned mushrooms, and some of your sauteed onion & mushroom mix.
Keep that going until it’s all heated through, you shouldn’t need to let it boil again. Let it rest a bit.
Notes:
I’m an anarchist when it comes to instant potatoes. Toss in buttermilk, sour cream, cheese, garlic… whatever you want. Use chicken stock or vegetable stock instead of water. I try to tie it in to the main dish.
You could make a gravy from scratch… but it’ll be almost the same stuff that’s in the packets. And, I wasn’t about to collect the drippings from the meatloaf to make a gravy like you would with a roast. 🤣
🍖🍄🧅🧀🥔
There you have it. What would you do differently? Have anything you picked up that you might try? What are your meatloaf go-to recipes, tips, & tricks? Have any other meatloaf styles, or do you do it straight-up old school ketchup glaze? Most importantly, what are you rocking out to as you make meatloaf?
This is becoming a trend. I want to make a sandwich and don’t have the appropriate bread or bun. Thankfully, this lack of planning for a meatball sub brought forth the almighty Meatball Club (the Meatball Melt isn’t bad either). This was not a bad alternative, if I do say so myself.
I made some of my grilled chicken noodle soup that we had with a salad for dinner last night. I had some leftovers for lunch today and wanted a lil’ sandwich to go with it. Not much beats a local mom n’ pop pizza shop Italian Sub. I had some almost sort of close enough ingredients in the house, so I crafted my own.
In my humble opinion, the key to a great local sub shop Italian Sub is the toasting. The second key is to call it a sub and not a hoagie, grinder, hero or whatever other word yinz have for it. Maybe this would be less a Subwich and more a Submersible?
I didn’t have a sub roll, but I did have the super cheap hamburger buns. That worked, because it was lunch time and I didn’t need a foot long sandwich anyway.
The Italian …Subwich?
Here’s what I did…
I preheated the oven to 400° and gathered all my stuff.
I melted some butter & EVOO with garlic powder, onion powder, & Italian seasoning in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl.
I spread the butter on the insides of the bun, sprinkled on a tiny bit of shake cheese, and toasted it inside up in the oven for 5 minutes on a sheet pan.
I stacked the cold cuts, cheese, & veggies like this from the bottom up on the bottom bun: Turkey, hard salami, provolone cheese, ham, hard salami, jarred roasted red peppers, sliced black olives, shredded Parmesan from a tub,
I put a slice of provolone on the inside of the top bun.
I put it back in the oven for 6 minutes.
I took it out & assembled the sandwich.
I brushed a little more melted butter/spices on the top, and put it back in… this time on convection at 350° for two minutes because why not?
I bought it out and it definitely gave me mom n’ pop pizza shop vibes. Those slightly burnt edges make it kick.
My wife likes the Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing & some mayo on hers. If you’re going to comment that you don’t like back olives, can’t eat roasted red peppers, or would add onions, lettuce, & tomato… I’ll lift the weight off of your shoulders and ask how you’d make this yours?
If you are here to say bread, meat, or cheese are not for you and/or ask what you can substitute, I’ll say “Bean Soup” to you.
I asked Gemini to pull out an ingredient list, and it did this whole ass thing, so I’ll paste it all below for the “jump to the recipe” crowd. It’s funny how it says to slice the bun like this isn’t the ~$1 pack of 8 from Aldi. It does know what “shake cheese” is though. Do other people call it that, or just me? It adds some wild stuff all inferred from my text above.
Ingredients
This is for one sandwich, but is easily scalable for a crowd!
The Butter Brush & Dressing
1 Sub Bun (or your favorite hoagie roll)
2 Tbsp Butter (unsalted or salted)
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
2-3 Tbsp Sweet Italian Dressing (or another vinaigrette of your choice)
1-2 tsp “Shake Cheese” (the grated Parmesan from a container)
The Filling
2 Slices Provolone Cheese
3-4 Slices Turkey (deli slices)
3-4 Slices Ham (deli slices)
6-8 Slices Hard Salami (layered)
2 Tbsp Jarred Roasted Red Peppers (drained)
1 Tbsp Sliced Black Olives
1-2 Tbsp Shredded Parmesan (from a tub, for texture)
Wife’s Variation (Optional)
Roasted Red Pepper Italian Dressing
Mayonnaise
Instructions
1. Preheat and Prep the Butter
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter and EVOO together.
Stir in the garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Set aside.
2. Toast the Bun
Slice your bun open and lay both halves on a sheet pan, inside-up.
Brush a generous layer of the seasoned butter mix onto the insides of both buns.
Sprinkle the insides with a tiny bit of the “shake cheese”.
Toast the buns in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.
3. Build the Base
Remove the buns from the oven.
Pour a drizzle of the Sweet Italian Dressing onto the inside of both buns—don’t saturate it, just a light coat.
On the bottom bun, stack the cold cuts, cheese, and veggies in this order:
Turkey
Hard Salami
One Slice of Provolone Cheese
Ham
Hard Salami
Jarred Roasted Red Peppers
Sliced Black Olives
Shredded Parmesan
Place the second slice of provolone cheese directly on the inside of the top bun (it will act as a shield and melt beautifully).
4. Melt and Warm
Put both halves of the sandwich (still separate) back in the oven for 6 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Carefully remove the sheet pan and assemble the sandwich by placing the top bun onto the bottom.
5. The Final Kick
Take it out, slice it, and enjoy!
Brush a little more of the remaining melted butter/spices right onto the top crust of the sandwich.
(Optional, but highly recommended) Turn the oven to Convection at 350°F and pop the sandwich back in for 2 minutes. This gives you those amazing, slightly crispy, burnt edges that make the sandwich sing.
So, I was hungry for corned beef & cabbage, …and I was hungry for haluski. That’s cabbage n’ noodles for the non-Yinzers or those with no Eastern European heritage. I am not Polish by descent or any of the ethnicities that gave us wonderful gifts like pierogies, halupki or the one where cottage cheese is in with the cabbage & noodles. (What is that called again?) In the immortal words of the young lady from the taco shell commercial, “Why not both?”
I am a bit Irish according to my DNA analysis & my surname. If I understand it right… corned beef & cabbage is an Irish-American invention, as back in Ireland it would most certainly be bacon… and the corned beef may have been adopted from the Jewish community. Sometimes you have a hankering for the canned stuff, not a “real” corned brisket.
Typically, I’d probably make this all in the skillet… and these store-bought noodles are nowhere as good as the ladies cooking at a church carnival, but I can make due with what I could get from Aldi. I saw some stuff online suggesting to finish up haluski in the oven. So, why not?
Canned meat, Cabbage, Carbs. I present to you the hottest new trend in Irish-American/Polish Fusion cuisine; O’Luski.
I had ChatGPT help me put together a recipe after I described my method, I still had to tweak it thoiugh. It filled 2 glass 9″x13″ baking dishes. I only put the corned beef on top of one.
Salt, black pepper, paprika, onion powder, & garlic powder to taste.
1 tsp. ham soup base
1 cube chicken bouillon
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Cook the egg noodles until tender in water with the ham soup base & chicken bouillon, drain, and toss with a couple tablespoons of butter. Set aside.
While the noodles are cooking… Slice the canned corned beef, fry in a skillet on medium-high heat to crisp up the patties. Take them out & set aside. (I did crumble up a bit of the corned beef & leave it in the pan.
Melt 1 stick butter in the same skillet over medium-low to medium heat. Add the onions and cook until starting to turn translucent to brown.
Add the cabbage to the skillet with the other stick of butter, season with salt and pepper, and cook until tender and lightly caramelized.
Combine the cooked noodles with the cabbage and onions, mixing well. Transfer the mixture to two buttered 9×13″ baking dishes.
Scatter the crisped corned beef over the top. Bake uncovered at 300°F for 25–30 minutes. I put corned beef on top of one dish, and left the other just mostly cabbage & noodles.
Let rest a few minutes before serving. Optionally, top with a final pat of butter for extra richness.
Notes:
I season with everything just about every step of the way… light on salt because of the corned beef & the bouillon. I probably used Mrs. Dash Table Blend too.
AI kept suggesting acid like vinegar or lemon juice. This is not the dish for that. 🤣 No caraway seeds either. This is comfort food.
I really like to make my own meatballs. Sometimes there store bought frozen ones are fine. Sometimes you intend to have a meatball sub, and end up making a meatball club. (I like my meatballs with lasagna & in wedding soup too.)
The other day we needed a quick dinner so frozen meatballs it was. Still gotta make it good though, right? I like a toasted sandwich bun…. with meatball subs, meatball clubs, pulled pork BBQ, chipped ham BBQ, sloppy Joes, & more.
Ooey Gooey Toasty Meatball Sub
I had ChatGPT help me format my recipe from my ramblings…
Cheesy Meatball Subs with Garlic-Herb Toasted Buns Servings: 2 | Prep: 10 min | Cook: 15–20 min
Ingredients:
8 frozen meatballs
2 sub rolls
2–3 tbsp butter, melted
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp parsley
1 cup jarred marinara sauce
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
2 tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (plus extra for topping)
Black pepper, to taste
4–6 sliced black olives (plus extra for topping)
2 slices provolone cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella
Instructions:
Cook the meatballs according to package instructions.
Preheat oven to 357°F (180°C). Mix melted butter with garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Slice rolls and brush the butter mixture onto the cut sides. Sprinkle with Parmesan/Romano and some sliced black olives. Toast for 5 minutes.
Warm marinara in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, Parmesan/Romano, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Place 4 meatballs per bun. Spoon sauce over the meatballs. Add additional olives, provolone slice, and shredded mozzarella.
Return assembled subs to the oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Let cool slightly, then serve and enjoy!
Apparently canned black olives are polarizing here according to social media. Would roasted red peppers be acceptable? What about sauteed green peppers or onions? Mushrooms?
What do you do to spice up your quick go-to meals? What do you like on your subs? Yes, I put sugar in jarred marinara sauce. Tell your Nonna to calm down with the carrots and the baking soda. I like the sweetness and the acidity cut. I also use jarred minced garlic occasionally.
Quick Edit to add, had these for lunch today with the leftovers:
It’s cheeseception. I wanted to try that cheesy beer bread in some grilled ham & cheese sandwiches… and I needed some soup for the side, right? Why not up the cheese level with my old broccoli cheese soup or my potato soup? I thought the fiber from the broccoli may be beneficial. 😆
Roasted Broccoli Cheddar Soup and a Cheesy Beer Bread Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwich
I probably should have stuck with a traditional tomato soup to combat the absolute decadent richness, but this soup was pretty damn good. I want to try to make a roasted butternut squash soup eventually too… but not sure that would pair well with this sandwich?
I did spice-up my original broccoli cheese soup recipe. This could be a full meal, or a side to a nice turkey or roast beef sandwich. Recipe down below. That’s what I did this time. I’ll probably make it slightly different next time. Everyone does that, right?
As far as the sandwich, I just cooked some lunchmeat ham for a few seconds on the panini grill, sliced up the cheesy bear bread, buttered the outsides with softened butter, and stacked it with some individually wrapped cheese slices… cooked on high on the countertop grill to sear & melt it all at once. I should have gotten a side view, but I was hungry.
Fresh real bacon would be incredible here, maybe more of it… or even bits of cubed ham.
You could skip the beer & do 1½ cups of water with the ham bullion or Better Than Bouillon. I like to use Straub Amber to cook too.
I wonder if a red bell pepper would be good in this too?
This makes a large pot, so hope you like leftovers.
My apologies to vegans, the lactose-intolerant, and the dairy-allergic.
🥦🧀🥣
OK, so how would you make your broccoli cheddar soup? Can I call this broccoli cheddar when it also includes other kinds of cheese? What are your thoughts on the roasting? Would you try this? Do you have a broccoli cheese soup go-to recipe? How about any tips & tricks?
I was in a cooking mood last weekend, and I tried out some hot German style potato salad. As usual, I googled recipes, solicited advice on Threads, and even bounced stuff off of LLM’s. I came up with the recipe below, and it paired nice with some Reubens. The bread on the Reubens was less than stellar. I need to get some better rye, & make sure it’s still seedless. (Thanks, diverticulitis!) Maybe marbled or Pumpernickel is the way to go? I’m not much of a baker, unless it’s as easy as the Cheesy Beer Bread.
OK. So here’s what I did:
Ingredients
2 lbs. red potatoes
10 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped
1/2 of a Spanish onion, finely diced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground mustard
Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, & Garlic Powder to taste
Dried parsley to taste
Fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
Put the whole potatoes in a large pot and cover with about 1 to 2 inches of cold, salted water (or chicken broth for extra flavor). Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes well and set them aside. (Next time I will add the other half of the onion here. I did add a bit of ham bullion to the water.)
While the potatoes are cooking, place the chopped bacon in a large skillet or pan over medium-low heat. Cook until the bacon is crispy, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon pieces and place them on a paper towel-lined plate to drain, but leave the rendered bacon grease in the skillet. (I may have snuck in a tiny bit of butter here.) This seemingly takes forever but is worth it. I seasoned the bacon with onion powder, garlic powder, & black pepper.
Add the diced onion to the skillet with the bacon grease. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the onion is soft & translucent.
To the skillet with the onions and bacon grease, add the chicken broth, white vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard, and ground mustard. Whisk the mixture to combine. Bring the dressing to a simmer and let it cook for about 2 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. I put the dried parsley in here, too.
Dice, the still-warm potatoes into large 1-inch-ish chunks, then place in a large bowl. Pour the hot dressing over the potatoes and gently toss to coat. Stir in about half of the cooked bacon pieces.
Let the salad sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the potatoes to fully absorb the flavors. Just before serving, sprinkle the remaining crispy bacon and fresh chopped parsley or chives over the top.
I wondered if honey mustard would be good? Obviously brown mustard or German mustard or even yellow mustard should be fine. I wonder what Herlocher’s would be like? Apple cider vinegar or brown sugar should be fine too. I see proponents for and against just about every variation online.
I say use what you have on hand or what you know you like. I bet I used Mrs. Dash’s table blend at some point, too. Some recipes recommended wine instead of broth. I may try it with beer?
Is this one you make often? Have you ever tried it? What are your tips & tricks? Luckily both kids liked it, so I’m sure I’ll be making it again. Also… I really didn’t measure much…. I just go.
Hit me up with your take on the Reuben, too! I have made them a few different ways, but always with the same basic ingredients.
Also, this is a hilariously appropriate song to rock to while you’re cooking:
Ever have an idea that you can’t shake? I had all the ingredients. I wanted to make them into a sandwich. I didn’t want to fry the components in separate pans & use the oven… so I did it all on a big baking sheet.
It worked. Mostly.
The hashbrown patties came in the shape that I wanted to mimic, so I wasn’t interested in a muffin tin for the eggs or the corned beef hash. I may just used canned corned beef next time & not the hash… and I may end up cooking the eggs separately. Maybe.
This is how I did it this time. I made 4 of them.
Ingredients:
8 frozen hash brown patties
1 can of corned beef hash
4 eggs
Milk (optional)
Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder to taste
4 slices of American cheese singles
Spray oil
Heavy duty aluminum foil.
How I did it…
Preheat the oven to 425° on the air fryer setting.
Make 4 foil rings the size of your hash brown patties and set them aside.
Sprayed the (large) backing sheet with the cooking oil.
Pop those hash brown patties on like a checkerboard.
Put it in the oven for 5 minutes.
Take it out, flip the patties, and spoon the corned beef hash into some of the empty spots. (Think if each row or column like 1 sandwich.)
Pop it back in & crank it down to 400° on air fry for another 10 minutes.
While that is going mix your egg, milk. & spices.
Pull the chaos triple checkerboard out and flip the corned beef.
Put the foil rings in place in the empty spots, pour the eggs in there, and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes.
Pull it out, remove the foil rings that barely worked, toss on the cheese slices, and pop it in for 2 minutes.
Take it out, let it cool for 3½, and stack it on a plate! (I added ketchup here too – should have also used some Red Hot or something similar.)
That’s…
-Hashbrown Patty-
—— Cheese —–
——– Egg ——-
Corned Beef Hash
-Hashbrown Patty-
Eat it!
It’s a work in progress, but it was delicious. What do you think? How would you do it? Our oven has a convection setting and an air fry setting. I could see this working with either, or just by baking it… adjusting the time & temp. I didn’t want to stack it like a casserole, but I certainly could have… and frozen hash browns or tater tots may have worked…. The egg would probably have to be used as a binder for that and/or the corned beef… but then were in casserole land again, not a stacked sandwich.
World (and Lunar) Domination 